An increasingly important wine producing country, now the fourth largest in the world. The industry was almost completely decimated during Prohibition but it gained a lot of fame after the so called “Judgment in Paris” in 1976 when California wines beat the best of France in a blind tasting organized by Stephen Spurrier. Today there are more than 7500 wineries across every state in the country, including Alaska and Hawaii. However, 95% of all wine is produced in just four …
Veneto, located in the North-East corner, is by far the largest producing region in the country, accounting for 20% of all wine made in Italy. Amarone, Valpolicella and Ripasso are the first wines that come to mind when people think about the Veneto, but almost three quarters of production is white or sparkling wine, including Prosecco. Polenta, boiled cornmeal, is the staple of the region. Toward the Venice coast, seafood dishes are quite popular, including salt cod, sardines and cuttlefish. …
A white wine grape grown in various locations around the western Mediterranean: northwestern Italy, southern France and the neighboring islands of Corsica and Sardinia. It goes by various names, among them Pigato in Liguria, Favorita in Piedmont and Rolle in Provence, although there is long-standing disagreement over which of these are synonyms of Vermentino and which are distinct varieties in their own right. Vermentino generally has refreshing acidity and attractive aromas of peach, lemon peel, dried herbs and a whiff …
Vienna is the only capital city in the world that boasts its own wine appellation. About 700 hectares of Vienna’s surface is covered by vineyards, about 80 percent white and 20 percent red. There are some 400 individual vineyards in the city. For many years, the region produced simple white wines for consumption in heurigen (local wine bars that serve meats, sausage and cheese). Today, Vienna is a quality wine producing region perhaps best known for its Gemischter Satz. This …
Viognier is a white-wine grape variety known for producing textural, aromatic wines with pronounced stonefruit flavors — apricots and steel are the variety’s classic flavor associations. On the nose, Viognier wines can also be very herbal, with aromas of chamomile, lavender, thyme and even a hint of pine. It needs an extended period in order to ripen, which is why it is best known in the upper Rhone valley, in Condrieu. More value-oriented examples can be found in the Languedoc. …
Located on the south coast of the Western Cape, about 100kms from Cape Town, Walker Bay is one of the coolest regions in South Africa. It’s proximity to the coast gives it a maritime climate, and the “Cape Doctor” brings Antarctic breezes which cool the region further. This lengthens the ripening season, which concentrates flavour while retaining acidity. The region is centred around the town of Hermanus, which is famous for the southern right whales that are frequently seen. This, …
Washington State is the second largest producers of vinifera wines in the US after California. The vinifera distinction is made because New York state has more acres under vine but a great proportion of them are native American vines and/or hybrids. The majority of Washington’s vines are in the eastern part of the state which is desert for the most part, forcing vineyards to be planted in close proximity to rivers to allow irrigation. During the growing season, the hot …
White grapes are actually green in colour, and are mutations of red grapes in which anthocyanins are no longer produced. They are usually crushed and pressed right away, without contact with the skins in order to maintain freshness. However, there has been a resurgence in the ancient technique of macerating white juice on the skins of white grapes, a process that extracts some tannins and usually leads to a darker yellow, even orange, hue.
Pronounced char-ELLE-o, it is a white wine grape that forms the backbone of the Cava Spanish sparkling wine, being one of the three traditional grapes used in its production. The other two grapes are the Catalan indigenous variety Parellada, and Macabeo which is better known as Viura, the main white grape of Rioja. Xarel-lo contributes intense aromas in the blend which many believe underpins Cava’s unique character.
Zinfandel is perhaps the most American of all grapes yet, as a vitis vinifera cultivar, its ancestral home had to be European. The fight to claim it has been long and protracted, with numerous red herrings, and even with the advent of DNA testing in the 1990s putting some of those myths to rest, it wasn’t until the new millenium that Zinfandel’s parent source was proved and accepted. First, it was mistakenly thought the grape had been introduced to California …
